Steve Hartman did this piece about his Dad who passed away a number of years ago. Since I couldn’t find a current post from him, I thought this one was good. I watched and thought about losing my Dad this year. He refers to himself as an orphan because his mother had already passed. Thankfully I am not an orphan yet, Mom is still with us. It’s a sweet reflection… ENJOY!!
Here is a picture of my Dad…. He wasn’t perfect, but I miss him.
This is Graham Cooke sharing a prophetic word for the new year! ENJOY!!!
By Ashlie Miller
2025 is barely in our rearview mirror, and I am pondering the phrase, “objects in mirror may be closer than they appear.” Events that seem like distant memories were really not that long ago. For some, they still feel very fresh. I consider a family acquaintance who lost everything they had over the summer – every necessity and luxury, as well as years of memories (handmade items from children, awards the parents earned in school, cherished ornaments, years of collecting rare and treasured books). All taken in a moment.
Then, during a milestone birthday celebration of a friend this year, I learned that one of her quirks (or maybe it should be called a strength) is letting go of greeting cards every year. Each year, she tosses all her cards when she receives a new one from the sender, freeing her of unnecessary clutter. The sentiment has been received and cherished, now onto the next year!
I, on the other hand, am a bit sentimental. I am certain that much of it has to do with losing a parent at a young age, as well as other relatives and friends in my childhood and young adult life. I sense that life is fleeting, that we should number not only our days, but the days we have with others. Gifts, cards, and token sentiments have always felt like tangible bits of that person. Losing things hurts me profoundly. Things getting tossed by others as they help to clean up around the house can set me on edge. Making decisions of when it’s ok to let go of an article of clothing or even a piece of folded paper and an envelope can be difficult. Yet, two ladies I know either had things taken or chose to toss the unnecessary and still experience God’s grace and sustenance.
So, the week after Christmas, I began in my closet, where so many of those paper reminders sit in boxes, and I tossed more than I kept. Truth be told, I had not revisited those cards, even the ones coming from those who mean the most. Of those that were tossed, the hardest were photo cards. It feels like throwing away someone’s existence! But with social media, it has become easier, because with a couple of clicks, I can access many of those photos through friends. Heartbreak met me, however, on the floor of the closet as I came across more than half a dozen families who are no longer together. Divorce, separation, death – all touched many families who will never again look like what I see in the photo.
Unlike the photos frozen in time, life has moved on. God has been faithful to hold them through the heartache. I encountered a lesson as I made more room on my closet shelves: can I trust that God is keeping every moment, every relationship I cherish, and even all my tears safely in His hand? The old Sunday school song echoes in my head, “He’s got the whole world in His hands!” Psalm 56:8 calls to my heart about God keeping count of my tossing and preserving my tears in a bottle, and like my own journal of memories, keeps a record of all these things.
So, yes, I can let go of some of these things, because He keeps them all more securely. Happy decluttering (and it’s ok to keep some of those things you haven’t looked at in ages).
Ashlie Miller lives in Concord, NC. You can email her at mrs.ashliemiller@gmail.com.
By Doug Creamer
Crossing Over
We have arrived in 2026! We’ve started to clean up from Christmas…on the outside. I haven’t completed putting everything away. I haven’t even thought about starting the Christmas tree yet. To be honest, I enjoy the tree being up into early January because things are often so rushed on the build up to Christmas that it’s difficult to slow down and enjoy the tree. Besides, it’s a lot of work to take down.
Once we all put our Christmas lights away, winter settles in for real. The best part about winter is SNOW! I have been watching the models closely and have seen some hints of snow on the horizon, but nothing definite. So I will watch and wait to see what Old Man Winter brings our way.
People will often make resolutions at this time of year. People join the gym and work out, trying to get the bathing suit body back. The holidays offer us lots of great food, which likes to stick with us as we enter the new year. People make themselves go to the gym to shed some of those unwanted pounds, but the will power to change often runs out.
Our resolutions aren’t just focused on our physical bodies. We want our spirits to be stronger so we will come up with these types of resolutions: “I will read the Bible through twice this year!” “I will pray for an hour every day!” While these sound like great resolutions, they are very difficult to sustain. Life happens and we get busy, and when the pressures overwhelm us, these lofty resolutions become oppressive and strangling, so we give up.
When we strive to do things in our own strength through sheer will power, we often end up failing. Unless there is something driving us to make changes, generally we are going to drift away from our resolutions. Our spirit may desire change, but our flesh is weak. Our flesh will resist and fight the spirit, and unless it is a God thing the flesh will win out.
The way I see it, most resolutions are born out of our desires. So we have to put all the effort in and we know the results of that. We rarely seek God and ask Him what He wants to see different in our lives. The truth is God loves us just the way we are…BUT He wants to mold us and make us into the image of His Son Jesus. He wants to make us into vessels of honor that can carry His Spirit and love to the world around us.
The place we all need to begin the new year is in His presence. We need to rediscover that God loves us – remember, we just celebrated His birth. God likes us – He created us for fellowship and desires to be with us. He accepts us – He calls us His sons and daughters. If we can see God from that perspective then we can understand that the changes He wants to bring in our lives are for our own good. He wants to help us, heal us, restore us, and bless us!
We begin the journey drawing closer to Him. We can ask Him what He wants to do. What does He want to see different in our lives? Then we have to trust Him and work with Him to see the changes develop in our lives. Sometimes He will take us through the refining fire. Sometimes He will take us through challenges and difficulties. Sometimes we are called to go through circumstances to grow a deeper, stronger faith and trust in God.
Do you see the thread in what I wrote? He is working with us. We are working with Him. It’s not our will power or desire that is driving the change. It’s His Spirit that is motivating us, molding us, encouraging us, and helping us to make the changes. These changes will endure. They are motivated by love and filled with grace.
I want to encourage you not to make resolutions this year, but to seek His face for what He wants to do in and through your life this year. God has made good plans for your year. He wants to bless you! He wants to prosper you! He wants your year to be filled with hope, grace, mercy, and His deep everlasting love. The year will have its ups and downs, but you will be secure in His love and peace. His joy will fill your heart. Start the year in His presence and discover a journey you will never forget!
Contact Doug Creamer at PO Box 777, Faith, NC 28041or doug@dougcreamer.com
By Roger Barbee
At this time of the year, I cringe a great deal. I cringe at the Christmas cards consisting of too many family photographs. I cringe again because few of these carry any personal note or signature, just the implied message: “Look at how great and happy we are.” After that cringing, I suffer through the overflow of articles and newscasts looking back at the past year (name all who have died the past year) and the insufferable resolutions and advice for the coming new year ranging from a new diet to books that will change everything to ways of gaining a happier life. But while glancing at the New Year’s Day Charlotte Observer’s coverage of another local, random shooting in which an innocent, thirteen-year-old was murdered, I saw a quarter-page advertisement for a jewelry store. I cringed. Not at the ad, but at the irony of its location. I also took a cell-phone photo of it and sent it to many contacts in my cell phone.
The ad begins “resolve This Year” and then it lists 29, by my count, suggestions for all of us to do in 2020. And I think the list impressive, not necessarily because of the type of suggestions it makes, but by its language in making them. Strong verbs are used to state the imperatives we need to follow. An example such as “Deserve confidence” places all the responsibility on the person desiring the confidence of another person . Those two words tell us, in order to have the confidence of others, we must act and do in such a way that another person will be confident about us. That is, we will be trusted because we have demonstrated trust.
Another suggestion that resonates is “Forgo a grudge.” I so admire the use of that somewhat archaic word “forgo.” As any poet knows, the perfect word is, well, just right. I offer that to “forgo” is the perfect command for any of us living with a grudge. Find “forgo” in your dictionary or cell phone. Learn it, and see for yourself why it is the perfect way to deal with a heavy emotion.
Now, we are all busy in our world of convenience. Ask someone to support a good cause with a check and it likely will be given. Ask for an afternoon of labor for the same cause, and you likely will be given excuses of “I don’t have the time,” or “I’m too busy.” Our time, even with all of it that we have, is guarded. Yet, here is the suggestion, “Find the time.” No explanations of what to find the time for, just find it. Oh, the needs are only limited by my excuses. But “Find the time” for a child, your house of worship, the local library, a soup kitchen, the local center for seniors, or so many other needs. Don’t wait for the time to appear, go out and find it. Once again, the ad gives a command. No wishing or moaning, but active verbs that will give results.
“ Go to church.” Now, there it is said. Do not attend or visit or some other lesser verb. Go! Your mother may have said that to you long ago. That is strong advice but needed always and especially in our culture. You may easily substitute another word such as temple or mosque or synagogue for church. But, Go. You will feel better, and your world will be better.
In the current climate, passive verbs relieve the speaker or writer of responsibility. As a teacher for forty years, I heard too many times a whine such as, “She (a teacher) doesn’t like me”, or “That coach likes only certain athletes”, or more and more. Parents, too, spoke in the passive voice to remove any responsibility from their child or even themselves. But this ad uses the active voice and that places all the responsibility on the one doing. Examine the suggestion, “Flount envy.” Once again, the perfect verb, but not one that I would want my students to commit regarding rules. But envy? Exactly. Grow up and be responsible for yourself.
I wrote earlier that the placement of the ad is ironic. It is because the page it is on has an article about the murder of an innocent thirteen-year-old girl. She was killed by a stray bullet fired by an eighteen-year-old who was angry with someone he had argued with, and he did not heed the first suggestion: “To mend a quarrel.” Instead of mending, he used a gun to rip at something trivial. Lives torn, including his.
It is an ad unlike any I have ever read. But it is one I will read each day and follow its words. Strong words to help a weak world.
By David Freeze
Vests and Training with Adults
Walking with a weight vest is a new fitness trend in 2025. If walking is too easy for you, add weight. Or consider the weight vest as alternative training. You will burn more calories than walking and build overall strength by walking with weights. However, is it the same as rucking with a backpack? To some it seems the same, but here is an explanation of the difference.
The good news is that weight vest rucking will help you develop strength in your upper back, core and legs for when you start training with a backpack. Even weight distribution across the torso with the weight vest enables you to walk more normally (with a natural gait), and if you decide to add exercises such as pushups, pull-ups, squats and lunges, the weight vest is the better option. Most experts suggest not running while wearing the vest. Here are some more advantages to wearing a weight vest:
Rucking with a backpack is different because it distributes the weight across the shoulders, back and hips and requires a forward lean when walking or rucking, especially when it reaches 25% of your bodyweight or more. In my opinion, use a backpack if your future requires carrying them for military training or hiking long distances with survival/camping gear. Backpacking is just different, but it requires similar strength and endurance to wearing a weight vest.
You may want to get a loaded backpack and feel the difference. The logical step is to gain strength with the vest; then familiarity with backpacking could come next.
As we get closer to Christmas, a weight vest would be considered a great gift for an exercise enthusiast. For that really special person, consider matching a vest and gift certificate for a pair of running shoes and accessories.
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago in the article about Carson standout Kara Crotts and about how younger runners seldom go racing with the adults. Currently Kara is the fastest 5K female in the county regardless of her age. Most of the time, the fastest male and female runners in the county aren’t still in high school. Kara isn’t afraid to race adults, but that goes against the longtime trend.
So, what can high school runners like Kara gain from racing against adults? The adults in many cases have years of racing experience and are the best at long-time training. We had a good male high school runner several years ago, Braden Self, who made friends with some of the adults and improved his training and racing so much that he began to win local races. The better he got, the more he wanted to know.
Though better than it used to be, the accuracy of high school cross-country courses for total distance is still suspect. Adult courses in our area are spot on accurate, something that I feel is a must have. Measuring by wheel is critical as no other method is recognized, while tangents have to be measured accurately. Measuring by tangents means following the way the runners do the course, crossing back and forth to catch the shortest accurate route.
Many high school cross country runners lose interest in racing after graduation, and connecting with the adults will hopefully inspire them to keep racing and continue a lifetime of running.
Just ahead is the Resolution 5K at The Forum on January 1st. All proceeds go to Rowan Helping Ministries. Look for this and more upcoming events at www.salisburyrowanrunners.org